Finding Home
by moeexyz
Summary: From a prompt on the Community community on LJ. Britta transfers to City College. The group goes to get her back.


_Disclaimer: Brazil got knocked out of the world cup today. that really pissed me off. I may not out Community but damn it I own rage! !_

**Finding Home**

Britta had found out about Jeff and Annie through Abed. It was the middle of July and she wasn't exactly avoiding the group, but she wasn't trying to hard to spend time with them either. She'd gone shopping with Shirley once, and she'd watched some of the world cup matches on Pierce's giant flatscreen, with him, Troy and Abed. Annie had called her and wanted to go get coffee with her, but Britta was pacing herself. Shirley asked about her and Jeff, but she was easily distracted. Pierce, Troy and Abed didn't really care too much about it. But Annie would. Annie would ask Britta what happened and how she felt and she'd keep pestering her until Britta poured out her entire heart and soul to the teenage girl.

So when Abed told her, she was twice as surprised. She wasn't the only one, apparently Abed was the only person who knew anything about this, seeing as Pierce and Troy also looked a bit shocked at the news. Then Troy looked at Britta to see how she'd react, and Pierce and Abed followed his gaze. And they were all waiting for her to cry or something. _Typical men_, she thought. Why did she have to cry about it? She wasn't sad, she was angry. She was really pissed off. First Jeff leaves, and now he's making out with Annie. Seirously? So instead of crying like they all thought she would, she got up and stormed out of the Hawthorne mansion.

She made the calls to transfer that night, and didn't see any of the group for the rest of the Summer. She ignored all of Shirley's, and Abed's, and Troy's calls. She ignored Pierce's e-mails and e-vites and e-everythings. She didn't just ignore Annie, she blocked her. She would have blocked Jeff too but he wasn't calling at all. That stupid jerk!

Her first week at City College was simple, and easy, and the complete opposite of a day at Greendale. Altogether it was unmemorable. Britta was happy about that. This way she could remain sane and not get wrapped up in declarations of love, and stupid study groups who expected her to cry and walked out on her only to hook up with her best friends. Britta had decided on her first day that she wouldn't join any study groups while she was there. Of course that was before she started failing Anthropology. Of course, when she transferred her chosen subjects transferred with her.

So she found a study group. Ironically, there were six of them. Seven including her. They let her in without question. It was just a study group, who were they to try keep anyone from learning? Britta liked them better already. And so what if they weren't racist, or they didn't make television references, or they didn't say things that were so stupid that sometimes they had to be joking. They just studied, and that's what Britta liked about them. It was only during their third uninterrupted study session, that Britta started to think about her old study group. She wondered what they were doing right now. She wondered if they were having difficulty with Anthropology as well. She wondered if they'd fallen apart without her. Jeff had said she was the heart, a body can't function without a heart. Unless they got a heart transplant and had already replaced her. No they wouldn't do that. But Britta still couldn't get rid of the image in her head of Jeff announcing that Annie was the new heart. She could see Annie beaming back. She could see the rest of the group clapping happily, Britta long forgotten. She could see Annie sitting in her seat, and Jeff leaning over to kiss her.

"Britta, are you okay?" Travis from her new study group asked, snapping her out of her train of thought.

"Yeah, I just...let's just study."

Her new study group didn't know anything about her. They didn't know that she'd dropped out of high school to impress Radiohead. They didn't know that she had a cat. They didn't know that she had problems with her father, or that she used to go to Greendale, or that she'd never been in love. And she hadn't. She'd decided that on her first day at City College. But since they didn't know anything about her, they had no idea why there was an old man sitting in their study room waiting for Britta, one day.

"Pierce?"

"Brittles! How are things?"

Her study group gave Britta a confused look but let her have her privacy. Britta couldn't help but think if this was her old group they'd all gather round ready to comment on her private conversation.

"Pierce, what are you doing here?"

"I came to get you back, Brittles. See things aren't quite the same without your holier than thou crap." Britta frowned.

"Thanks Pierce, but I'm happy here." It wasn't a lie. Was it?

"C'mon. I can set you up with a nice girl. I can even make sure she's not the one with the bigger boobs if that's the kind of thing that bothers you" he said to her with a smile. Britta wouldn't admit it, but she missed him calling her a lesbian. So instead she opened the door for him.

"I'm not going back Pierce. I'm sorry."

Pierce looked disappointed. And then he did this serious face that Britta had never seen on Pierce before.

"We really miss you Britta" He said and then he walked out. Britta was a little unsure of what to do now. She didn't think any of them would miss her that much. She knew they'd miss her, but not enough to come get her. And now Pierce had. Pierce of all people.

Shirley was the next one to come and visit. She came a week later. She'd brought Britta some of her special brownies. Britta had told her she wasn't coming back when she saw her waiting by the library, but Shirley said she was just there for a visit. They'd walked around the City College campus catching up on what had been going on. Shirley told Britta about the holiday she'd taken her boys on and how they'd told her they'd had more fun on their holiday with her than with their father. This made Shirley feel like the queen of the world. She told Britta about how Sexy Dreadlocks was in one of her classes, but he'd changed his hair. Now he was Sexy Baldy. Britta told Shirley about her classes and some of the new friends she'd made. Neither of them talked about Anthropology or the study group. When the Shirley's visit was over and Britta had to go to class Shirley finally brought them up.

"Annie's really sorry. So's Jeff. They feel awful."

"Then why didn't_ they _come?" Britta asked. Shirley looked to the ground.

"They don't know what to say to you. Maybe if you came back they-"

"I'm not coming back, Shirley."

"Okay, Britta" Shirley said, but she looked sad. They hugged each other and Shirley left.

Britta spent the next few days thinking about what Shirley had said. She wasn't going to go back. She wasn't going to forgive them when neither of them had bothered to apologize. Then she remembered that she wasn't exactly giving them a chance to apologize, she'd blocked them both. She'd checked all the blocked calls, and e-mails and texts. There were hundreds. All from Annie. she had a feeling Annie had been calling twice a day, trying to talk to her. She listened to a few messages. They were all basically the same. Annie rambling on and on about how sorry she was, and somehow revealing something personal about herself while doing it. Britta felt bad for ignoring her so long. She would have called her, so they could talk it out. She would have considered going back. But then she heard one of the messages, and Annie talked about how sorry she was and how bad she felt that she and Jeff were together. They were _together_ now? If she was so sorry than why were they together? She didn't even have the decency to ask her first. And Jeff. Stupid, son of a bitch, Jeff. He _still _hadn't called. He hadn't called, texted, e-mailed, twittered, written on her wall, sent her a postcard, written her a letter, nothing. He hadn't even tried. Britta didn't care if they were sorry anymore. She wasn't going to bother caring if they didn't.

Troy and Abed were next. She saw them late one afternoon when she was on her way to study group. Troy waved like an idiot with a huge grin on his face. Abed just stood there like Abed. She skipped study group that day to hang out with them. She didn't bother telling anyone from the study group. They wouldn't be to bothered about it. Why would they? They're just studying.

She got coffee with Troy and Abed. Abed told her about a new movie he was making. So far it was going great but the only problem was they needed a curly haired blonde who looked good in leather jackets to play Troy's leading lady, and unfortunately Greendale only ever had one of those. Troy just nodded along as he sipped the hot chocolate he'd ordered.

"Hey maybe you should come back, then you can help us with the movie" Abed said.

"Abed, I'd love to help you with the movie but I'm not coming back."

"Oh, then I guess you can't be in it. Greendale students only." There was an awkward silence which Troy broke.

"Britta please come back!" Britta jumped a little at the sudden outburst.

"Um..."

"Everything sucks without you. Pierce can't call you a lesbian anymore so now he's calling me gay, and I was fine with it a first, but he keeps saying it and words hurt you know!" Troy looked like he was about to cry. Abed patted him on the shoulder.

"There there" He said, but there wasn't much emotion in it. It was like he'd done this many times over the course of the last few weeks.

"Britta, we need you back" Abed stated.

"The group dynamic doesn't work without you in it. You keep us together Britta. Now that you're gone. Pierce is mean, Shirley's starting to hate us all, Jeff and Annie are unhappy and guilt-ridden, Tory cries a lot, and my ego's getting a little to big. I don't want to hang out with them anymore. They're all losers. We need you. We're falling apart without you. We used to be a study group, now we're a bunch of people who can't stand each other. Please come back" Abed told her in a monotone voice.

"Abed-" Britta began, but Troy interrupted her.

"Britta it's true. Remember all those stupid things Abed and I used to do? We don't do those anymore because he thinks he's better than me now. He does weird things with Leonard now. Leonard!" Tory moaned. Abed nodded.

"And all my movies have been flops because I'm too big for my boots" Abed said.

"Does it count if you admit you're being a jerk?" Britta asked.

"Britta just come back please!" Troy shouted. Abed rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just can't, okay?" Troy and Abed shared a look.

"Then, we're sorry we came" Abed said standing up. Troy mirrored his actions.

"I thought we were friends Britta" Troy said. They both walked out without another word, leaving Britta sitting alone and guilty in the coffee shop.

Britta had done her best to forget about her friends visiting her. She threw herself into her studies and was getting A's in all her classes. She wondered how Annie did it while having the group to put up with, the whole time. The thought was always dismissed however, when she realized she was thinking about Annie.

Britta went on a few dates with some of the City College guys. They were nice and polite. And the dates had gone well. The guys here were a lot saner than the ones in Greendale. But she never went further than a first date. Something just always felt off.

Just as the first week of October ended, Britta had another visitor from her past. Annie was sitting on a bench outside the library with an innocent smile on her face. When Britta saw her she rolled her eyes and started to walk in the opposite direction. Annie ran after her quickly.

"Britta wait, can we please just talk for a minute."

"I don't want to talk to you" Britta said. She didn't look at Annie. She knew she'd give in if she did.

"Britta, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you! Trust me, it's just, with Jeff...I feel...it's complicated okay, but you have to believe me. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you. You're my friend Britta, I'd never want to do that to you." Britta stopped walking.

"But you did Annie! You did, and it hurt, and I sort of hate you for it!" Britta exclaimed. Annie looked shocked at the outburst. She was doing the Disney eyes. Britta was sure, she was about to cry.

"I didn't know you had feelings for Jeff, Britta. I didn't know, okay? If I did I wouldn't have done anything! And it doesn't matter anyway because the entire group hates us too because they think it's our fault you left, and now Jeff feels super guilty so now he's super distant. And we broke up because we can't keep doing what we're doing when you're here. It feels wrong and we feel horrible. Everything's wrong and horrible now and it's all my fault!" She really was crying now.

"I'm really, really sorry Britta. I never meant to hurt you. I just wish we could be friends again because we all really miss you and we need you back." Britta took a deep breath and thought about what to say. She didn't know what to do. Was everybody really this torn up about her leaving? She looked at Annie's Disney eyes once more and sighed.

"I'm not coming back Annie, I can't." If it were possible for Annie to look any more upset, she would. She just nodded and looked at the ground.

"But I do forgive you" Britta said. Annie looked up with hope in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Annie grinned at Britta now and threw her arms around her.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I'm so sorry that I ever hurt you Britta. Thank you!" she exclaimed happily. Britta felt like Annie was going to choke her to death. She pulled Annie off of her.

"It's okay Annie. And hey, I'm sorry that things didn't work out between you and Jeff" Britta said. Annie looked sad again, but she kept smiling.

"Yeah, well, I guess it's for the best" Annie said. Britta felt a bit guilty now. They broke up because of her. Because they missed her. Because they needed her. But Britta wasn't going to blame herself for this. _They_ betrayed _her_. If they couldn't stay together, it was their problem. And right now Britta blamed mostly Jeff for letting poor Annie get so upset over this.

Britta and Annie went to get coffee. Britta skipped another study session. This time, coffee didn't end badly though. She and Annie laughed about old times together, and Britta told Annie about her dates and how well she was doing there. Annie was proud of her. They ran into Simmons during the day. Annie rubbed her debate win in his face, and then she looked sad. Probably Jeff, again. Britta was really pissed at him now.

Britta gave Annie a ride home, since she'd taken the bus to City College, and for the first time in a long time Britta let herself miss the group. Really miss them. All six of them. Even Jeff.

Three days after Annie's visit, _he_ came. Britta expected him not to come. She figured the group would ask him to since they all did, but she thought he'd say no. If he couldn't call, why would he bother coming to see her?

He was waiting on a sofa in the library reading an old magazine. Britta sat beside him, she figured she might as well get it over with. He looked up from his magazine and smiled at her. She glared back.

"You're mad at me" He stated.

"You're perceptive" She replied, bitterly.

"You're mad 'cos I didn't call."

"Or text, or e-mail, or write."

"No one writes, Britta."

"And you broke up with Annie." Jeff's smile faded. He stiffened.

"That was mutual."

"She still cares about you."

"She cares about her friendship with you more." He looked down at the magazine. "And so do I" He added. Britta was shocked to hear that.

"If you cared-"

"I would've called, I know. Look, I'm not exactly good at the whole talking thing. And I kept thinking of reasons not to call, and eventually it just got too late to call, and then I just figured you'd forgotten about the whole thing." He looked up at her again. "You didn't call either, by the way."

"I shouldn't have had to." They stared at each other.

"So, do you still love me, or has that whole thing passed?" Britta thought about it for a while.

"It pretty much died when I found out about you and Annie. I mean, really Jeff? She's nineteen. You're thirty-five. It's gross" Britta said. And then she smiled at him. He smiled back.

"You don't change your underwear on a daily basis. _That's_ gross." They both laughed.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to walk out on you, but you caught me off guard. And then with Annie I just felt..." He trailed off.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Jeff didn't answer. He just smiled awkwardly at her.

"At least Slater didn't win."

"Yeah, so can you come back now? Things really suck without you." Britta opened her mouth to tell him she couldn't, but he put his hand up. Britta cursed herself for still obeying him when he did that.

"Before you answer, let me just show you something" Jeff said. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the library. Standing outside was the group. They were lined up, smiling at her. And in front of them was Vaughn, and his guitar.

"To show you just how much we all want you back, we asked Vaughn to write us a song for you. And you know how we all love Vaughn" Jeff said smiling and lining up beside Annie.

"Thanks Jeff" Vaughn said, not catching the sarcasm. Jeff just nodded at the absent-minded hippie.

"Take it away Vaughn."

_"Oh Britta, I know I called you a B,_

_You shattered my heart for everybody to see,_

_But these guys here, they think you are rad,_

_Britta please don't leave them feeling bad."_

Then, the group started to sing with Vaughn.

_"Come back to Greendale, Britta come home,_

_We're sorry we hurt you and made you feel alone,_

_Come back to Greendale, we want you there,_

_We all love you Britta, even Pierce cares."_

Vaughn played some finishing notes on his guitar. Then they all looked at Britta expectantly.

"Well?" Jeff asked. Britta could see the hopeful look in all their eyes. She could see Annie crossing her fingers, Shirley was even praying. She looked at each of their faces. Pierce looked hopeful, Abed was smiling. Troy and Shirley had their eyes tightly shut as they waited for the outcome. Annie looked like she was preparing herself for disappointment. And Jeff just smiled at her. She could tell he wanted her back. She could see him telling her that he understood if she didn't want to, but in the end, they weren't the group without her.

"Since you made the effort of bringing Vaughn down form Delaware for this, I guess it'd be pretty mean if I say no" She said.

"That's not a yes" Abed moaned.

"Yes!" Britta exclaimed. They all jumped up happily and ran up to hug her. Except Vaughn, but he was smiling and clapping so it was okay.

"Britta, we missed you so much" Troy exclaimed, squeezing her tightly.

"Promise us you'll never leave again" Annie said.

"Seriously. _Never. Again._" Jeff said.

"I'm sorry I left guys, and I promise I'll stay with you forever" Britta said as she hugged all of them back. When the group all pulled away Britta decided to fix the problems her absence had caused.

"Pierce, I'm a lesbian, fire away."

"I knew it!"

"Abed, you're really cool, but not cooler than us. In fact without us you're kind of weird."

"Duly noted."

"Troy, only girls cry."

"Pfft, I don't cry."

"Shirley, don't get mad at them. They're awesome people. You love them remember? And if you don't try to get them to Heaven, who will?"

"That's very true, thank you for reminding me, Britta."

"And Jeff, Annie, for Pete's sake just get back together already. Watching the two of you mourn each other is really sad." Jeff and Annie looked at each other.

"You're really okay with this?" Annie asked. Britta looked at Jeff, who was still smiling at her. She didn't love him. Not anymore. He worked better with somebody else. She knew if she said no they wouldn't do anything. They loved her too much for that. They cared, they really cared. She gave Jeff a nod.

"I'm more than okay with it. Please, Annie, date Jeff." Jeff smiled at her before turning to Annie.

"You better do what she says, we don't wanna lose her again" He said. Annie smiled and kissed him lightly before turning back to Britta and hugging her again.

"We're so sorry Britta." The rest of the group joined in.

"We love you" Shirley said.

"I still have that girl with the boob's number if you want" Piece added. Britta just sighed happily into their hug. She'd really missed this.

"_The group and Britta are all back friends,_

_Now they're-"_

"Vaughn you can go now."

After that, Britta transferred back to Greendale, and things slowly started to go back to normal. Pierce stopped bullying Troy. Abed stopped thinking he was too good for them, and his movies got better. Shirley became the mother they'd always dreamed of having as they grew up. Annie and Jeff started dating, happily this time. And Britta's grades fell, and she started dating crazy guys, and every day was memorable. Everything was back to the way it was supposed to be. And Britta was finally home.


End file.
